The Illinois federal judge handling multidistrict litigation claiming Mead Johnson or Abbott Laboratories infant formula led to a severe gut illness in premature babies deemed it "disappointing" that testimony in an ongoing bellwether trial largely consists of video depositions, warning she won't conduct another unless most witnesses will take the stand in Chicago.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Infant Formula MDL Judge Laments Ongoing 'Trial-By-Video'

By Celeste Bott

The Illinois federal judge handling multidistrict litigation claiming Mead Johnson or Abbott Laboratories infant formula led to a severe gut illness in premature babies deemed it "disappointing" that testimony in an ongoing bellwether trial largely consists of video depositions, warning she won't conduct another unless most witnesses will take the stand in Chicago.

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7th Circ. Rejects Ex-Cushman GC's Defamation Revival Bid

By Lauraann Wood

Cushman & Wakefield's former general counsel cannot pursue an Illinois defamation claim over a Law.com article and subsequent revision he claims improperly linked his departure to subpoena deadline mismanagement in a Trump Organization property tax probe, the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday.

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Dems Urge DOJ To End 'Mega Master' Immigration Hearings

By Courtney Bublé

Democratic lawmakers from Illinois urged the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday to cease scheduling dozens of immigrants for hearings at the same time in Illinois and other states, a practice they say fuels the administration's "mass deportation campaign."

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ENFORCEMENT

Equity To Sell Boston Towers To Satisfy Antitrust Concerns

By Julie Manganis

Equity Residential has agreed to sell off two high-rise apartment buildings in Boston to avoid state and federal antitrust claims following its $69 billion merger with AvalonBay Communities, according to an agreement with the Massachusetts attorney general.

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Belle Tire Wins Arbitration Of Technician's Overtime Claims

By Melanie Dorsey

A former Belle Tire alignment technician must individually arbitrate claims that the automotive service company failed to pay overtime and improperly reduced workers' pay rates, a Michigan federal judge ruled, finding the employee agreed to arbitration through onboarding paperwork in 2023. 

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SEVENTH CIRCUIT

7th Circ. Says Resort Co. Waited Too Long For TCPA Suit Arb.

By Gina Kim

The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday concluded Club Exploria's conduct in a long-running Telephone Consumer Protection Act case was inconsistent with its intent to arbitrate as it waited four years to raise arbitration and finding its decision to hire new lawyers "late in the game cannot excuse prior counsel's lack of diligence."

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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White House Aims To Shield Advisers Behind Law Firm EOs

By Emily Sawicki

The Trump administration and Justice Department "strongly object" to an Aug. 3 discovery order requiring them to name individuals involved in drafting and approving executive orders targeting law firms, amid their repeated refusal to hand over certain communications in a suit brought by the American Bar Association.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Says Trump's University Probes Were Political

By Hailey Konnath

Trump administration officials forged ahead with investigations into Harvard, Columbia and other universities despite its own lawyers raising legal concerns and, in some cases, finding "little to no factual predicate justifying opening them," according to a whistleblower disclosure from a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer made public Tuesday.

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Troutman Sidelined Associate After Heart Attack, Suit Says

By Patrick Hoff

Troutman Pepper Locke LLP derailed an associate's career because he took medical leave to recover from a heart attack and spoke up about senior attorneys' fraudulent billing practices, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in New Jersey federal court.

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Trump Names 9 Judicial Picks Across 6 States

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced nine nominees Tuesday for judicial spots in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alaska. 

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Bot Errors Doom Expert's Credibility In Tainted-Supplement Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge Tuesday disposed of a U.S. Army nurse's lawsuit claiming supplement maker Thesis Nootropics sold products tainted with amphetamines, concluding that a key expert destroyed his credibility by submitting a report containing bot-generated false citations — much like errors for which the plaintiffs' counsel was recently sanctioned.

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Big Tech, PTAB Attys Urge Justices To Fix USPTO Power Grab

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's refusal to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's power over instituting Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges has allowed leaders to "wreak havoc" without accountability, top tech companies have warned the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Quill & Arrow Says Ford Can't Rehash Lemon Law Fee Fights

By Linda Chiem

Quill & Arrow LLP has asked a California federal judge to dump a "retaliatory" lawsuit alleging the personal injury firm saddled Ford Motor Co. with high-priced legal bills for work purportedly handled by virtual assistants overseas or nonlawyers, saying the automaker is trying to chill product liability litigation.

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​​​​​​​Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week tackled disputes involving multibillion-dollar mergers, corporate oversight, founder control, SPAC litigation, commercial contracts and attorney fees.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arete Law Group

Ashurst Perkins

Benesch

Blanchard & Walker

Covington & Burling

Davis Wright Tremaine

DiCello Levitt

HKM Employment Attorneys

Haynes Boone

Honigman LLP

Kasowitz LLP

Kilpatrick Townsend

King & Spalding

Knight Law Group

Levin Rojas

Littler Mendelson

Manning Gross

Milbank LLP

Murphy Ball Stratton

O'Melveny & Myers

Quill & Arrow

Smith Gambrell

Steptoe LLP

Sterlington PLLC

Susman Godfrey

Troutman

Wachtell Lipton

Wigdor LLP

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abbott Laboratories

Acushnet Holdings Corp.

Alliance for Automotive Innovation

American Bar Association

Amicus

Apple Inc.

Archer Aviation Inc.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

BDO LLP

BDO USA LLP

Cisco Systems Inc.

Clearing House Payments Co. LLC

Cloudflare Inc.

Computer & Communications Industry Association

Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

EchoStar Corp.

Equity Residential

Ford Motor Co.

Google LLC

Government Accountability Project

H.I.G. Capital LLC

Harvard University

Intel Corp.

Kentucky Downs LLC

Microsoft Corp.

NHK Spring

National Retail Federation Inc.

New York Post

Outliers Inc.

SAP AG

SAS Institute Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

ServiceTitan Inc.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

Tesla Inc.

The Boeing Co.

The Software & Information Industry Association

Trump Organization Inc.

Verisk Analytics Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Supreme Court

City and County of San Francisco, California

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Executive Office of the President

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

National Labor Relations Board

New York Attorney General's Office

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma